Written by Michelle Kretzer
For animals, a summer romance can mean adding to the overpopulation crisis. But after July, nearly 800 animals near PETA's Norfolk, Virginia, headquarters won't have to worry about "getting in trouble"—like Rizzo.
PETA's mobile veterinary clinics "snipped" 794 animals, including 154 whose families couldn't afford spay and neuter surgeries and 40 who couldn't get to the veterinarian without a ride there and back.
One patient, Trixie, lives in an area where there are no low-cost spay-and-neuter services available. Her guardian, a grandmother who is single-handedly caring for all her grandchildren, was ecstatic to be able to get Trixie spayed.
Not only did Coco the poodle get spayed, she also got the full beauty treatment. Staffers removed the painful mats from her fur, and now she and her happy guardian are sitting pretty.
Want to show animals some love this summer? Start by signing the pledge to end animal homelessness.
Written by PETA
As promised on Friday, here are photos from Pamela Anderson's trip to New Orleans to walk and give treats to the dogs PETA is transporting from crowded animal shelters in oil-ravaged Louisiana to Virginia for adoption:
Pamela decided to adopt two of the dogs on the spot and named them Gina Lollobrigida and Bardot. The rest of the dogs—almost 50 adult dogs and puppies—are en route to PETA headquarters. Feeling inspired by Pamela's kindness? Saving dogs and cats in shelters is as easy as always spaying and neutering your animal companions and adopting animals from shelters instead of buying them from breeders or pet stores. And if your dogs and cats are already fixed, please consider either donating to PETA's "Spay and Neuter Immediately, Please!" (SNIP) program or helping someone in a low-income area near where you live to get his or her dog or cat fixed. Pamela is poised to blow a kiss in your direction for these good deeds.
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
The Gulf oil catastrophe has been hard on all animals, including the countless dogs and cats who have been surrendered at Louisiana animal shelters because their guardians have lost their jobs or left the area. But thanks to the generosity of our very own Pamela Anderson, dozens of dogs will be getting a lift from crowded shelters in Louisiana to Virginia this weekend. Pamela has paid for the dogs' local adoption, spay or neuter surgery, and flea treatment costs and will be helping volunteers walk the dogs before their journey north. Once the dogs arrive in Virginia, PETA will be holding an adopt-a-thon with the Virginia Beach SPCA in order to place the dogs in loving new homes. Special thanks also go out to American Airlines and Southwest Airlines for flying in PETA volunteers free of charge from both sides of the country to help with the dogs' move.
Want to help? The most important action we can take is to have our animals spayed or neutered in order to prevent more animals from ending up homeless and to help ensure that animal shelters have room to accommodate animals who are victims of disasters. Louisiana residents who are ready to open their hearts and homes to one of these dogs can learn about adopting at HumaneLA.org, and Virginia residents can visit VBSPCA.com.
Stay tuned for photos of Pamela and the dogs!
Rocsi Diaz, the bubbly and beautiful host of BET's 106 & Park is known for bringing viewers the hottest music videos straight from the streets of Manhattan. But the Honduran mamacita recently stepped away from the streets to hang out on the beach with one of her adopted dogs, Chi Chi, and she used this R&R time to shoot a new peta2 "Adopt an Animal" ad. Check it out:
Rocsi also sat down in front of the cameras and used her veejay personality to encourage people to help dogs and cats by rescuing them from the streets or adopting them from shelters—and by having them spayed or neutered.
Want to see the interview and hear what the Midday Mami has to say about companion animals? Head on over to peta2.
Written by Heather Moore
Some 58,000 stray dogs have been shot dead in Baghdad over the past three months, and people around the world are outraged. No animal deserves to be killed simply for the "crime" of not having a home
But while we shake our heads in disgust over what's happening overseas, frustrated that we can't do anything there, we can do something equally important, totally relevant, and incredibly helpful right here. Here in the U.S., right in our backyard, many more dogs and cats are being killed—and not always humanely—because people are still buying animals from pet stores and breeders while open-admission animal shelters overflow and "no-kill" shelters slam their doors in animals' faces.
So what can we do? If you haven't already done so, please pledge today—right now—to help get dogs and cats who belong to your friends, family, or people in an impoverished area of your city fixed. You can help by educating, persuading, and even—bless you—donating to no- to low-cost spay/neuter facilities such as PETA's SNIP and ABC clinics. In June alone, PETA's clinics sterilized a record 1,011 animals, preventing hundreds of thousands of animals from ever having to compete for homes. Here are some of our happy clients:
Even those dogs and cats who are lucky enough to find loving, lifelong homes often spend many lonely days or weeks behind bars, and it is often impossible to find homes for the animals no one wants—those who are sick, injured, unsocialized, elderly, or not cute enough to be in a calendar.
Spaying and neutering saves more lives than trying to find homes for each one of the thousands of animals who can trace their roots back to one unsterilized cat or dog—and it spares animals and those who care about them immense heartbreak.
With all the buzz about the guest appearance by Bristol Palin—whose unplanned pregnancy sparked controversy during her mother's 2008 vice-presidential campaign—on the July 5 episode of ABC Family's The Secret Life of The American Teenager (a show all about teenage sex and pregnancy), what better time for PETA to bust out our notorious "Sex Talk" ad?
For those of you who somehow missed the ad's previous high-profile airings, it draws the parallel between negligent people who won't spay or neuter their animal companions and parents who take a cavalier attitude toward pregnancy in a chat with their daughter:
So while we ask ABC Family to run the ad during Monday's Secret Life, will you please show it to everyone you know who has not spayed or neutered their animal companion or who might be contemplating breeding their dog? The ad is also a great way to promote conscientious attitudes among teens—and parents—by encouraging them to act responsibly and help all members of the family avoid unplanned pregnancies.
Written by Jeff Mackey
If you're counting down the days until The Twilight Saga: Eclipse hits theaters, here are a few Twi "bites" to tide you over:
Team Edward or Team Jacob? We're not supposed to take sides here at PETA, but after seeing Robert Pattinson's hilarious appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's recent Twilight special—RPattz suggests that the wolf pack has been "spayed and neutered"—I'm rooting for the vampire. You know how much we like spaying and neutering.
And Edward isn't the only member of the Cullen clan speaking out for dogs. Kellan Lutz and his rescued mutt Kola posed for PETA's "Adopt, Don't Buy" ad, and in this exclusive interview, the sexy star explains why buying animals from pet shops or breeders really bites.
If you weren't one of the lucky fans who witnessed Kellan showing off his Calvins at the Eclipse premiere in Los Angeles, here's something even better: Christian Serratos (aka Bella's friend and classmate Angela Weber) in the buff.
So tell us, who should be the next Twilight star to pose for PETA?
Written by Paula Moore
We are not responsible for the elevated state of culture in the U.S., but …
Inspired by a Delaware ice cream shop's "booger" ice cream flavor, PETA is encouraging the shop to offer two other unusual treats: "dog poop" and "kitty litter" nondairy ice cream, with a portion of the proceeds used to help combat the dog and cat overpopulation crisis. By promoting spaying and neutering and reducing the number of litters born, we can also reduce the number of wonderful dogs and cats in animal shelters awaiting good homes.
The doggy flavor would resemble its namesake, but would be made with rich, velvety soy chocolate ice cream laced with chunks of dark chocolate. The kitty flavor would be mint with chunks of vegan brownie. Sounds like one kind of litter and poop that I'd love to scoop! What about you?
As a lifelong Hello Kitty fan, I nearly fell off my chair when I heard that Sanrio is looking for a new character to replace Kitty, who hasn't been a hot seller lately. Um, hello? Sanrio, have you heard that there is a recession going on? It's not Kitty's fault.
Luckily, PETA is proposing a plan to save the world's cutest cat and real kitties: a new ad campaign and merchandise line starring Hello Kitty featuring the message "Hello Kitty, Goodbye Animal Homelessness. Please Spay or Neuter." No doubt, compassionate connoisseurs of cuteness would snatch up HK spay-and-neuter stuff in a nanosecond.
Let's hope Sanrio takes us up on our offer. In the meantime, you can bring the issue of spaying and neutering to the forefront with a "Spay Today, Save a Life Tomorrow" mug. As sad as a world with no Hello Kitty would be, a world in which millions of real kitties are suffering on the streets and are euthanized for lack of a good home is a sad reality that we can easily fix with just one SNIP.
The NBA finals are upon us, and Los Angeles Lakers small forward Ron Artest is up to his old tricks—playing lock-down defense on Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics and bringing his patented passion and energy to a Lakers team that acquired him in the off-season for just that reason.
Artest may be vying for his first championship ring, but he's already got one accolade in the bag—PETA's Defensive Player of the Year award for defending dogs and cats against the animal overpopulation crisis. Through this eye-catching ad, the tough-as-nails Artest urges his fans to "have the balls" to spay or neuter their dogs:
This busy athlete also took the time to shoot a public service announcement for PETA, asking people to make a difference for animals by getting involved.
We wish Ron-Ron the best of luck in bringing home the title this year! Around the country, fingers (and paws) are crossed in thanks for his full-court-press for animals.
Written by Jennifer O'Connor
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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